It was a hot summers day when Jim, a good freind suggested that I take a look at this 88 blue T-bird with a 3.8 V6 . I admit I was skeptical until that fateful ride in his 79 Capri 5.0HO and T5, I never knew the power of a Ford until I had a chance to take a spin. I bought the blue T-bird with a blown head gasket. I fixed the head gasket and took it to the track. 11.87@ 58MPH on the 1/8th mile(not to bad for a V6.) Well the car didn't last long the last owner drove the bird with the gasket problem longer than he let on and a bearing spun. The car is parked for now waiting for a new motor. This brings me to my present Bird, an 88 Sports coupe that I found in a used car lot for (I talked him down to .) The car was in good condition, but the 5.0 in it was sick. The paint is decent and the interior had just about ever option you could think of. It came with the TC console(perfect for a T5 shifter) premium sound, factory EQ and AMP.Now comes the fun part of this story. I came across a 93 Mustang GT that was rolled over, the drive train was still in working order. Over the next several weeks the red T-Bird slowly became a sleeper With the GT's power train.

THE MOTOR

The motor is a factory 93 Mustang 5.0 HO. The parts that I added are.1. A Mass-Air wire harness.2. BBK 1 5/8 headers with the Mustang H-pipe and Flowmaster 2 chamber mufflers.3. Underdrive pulley's from March Performance.4. K&N filterMost likly I'll keep this combo for a while. Future updates will be the E303 cam, GT-40P heads and upper/lower intakes.

THE TRANSMISSION & REAR

The old AOD had to go, in it's place went the factory Mustang T5. All I did was take the pedel assembly from the stang and switch it to the bird. I did have to replace the clutch, so I went for the 10.5 King Cobra set up. At first I had a problem smoking the clutch, the reason this was happening is that there was an 1 1/2 of insulation behind the carpet. Since I removed the material I've had no problems. I didn't like the shifter(too spongy)so I installed a Hurst shifter a friend gave me. Much better, real short throw. Still there was something not right,the feel of the knob. So,I decided to lathe my own custom stainless steel knob, having it tailored to the palm of my hand gave me a Zen. Just me, my car and the road.Next the 7.5 w/3.08 rear came out in favor of the more beefier 8.8 out of a Turbo Coupe. That means 3.73's and disc brakes baby! To top everything off the Bird sports Prime 5 star wheels shod with 245/50 R16's all around.With everything done I get 26 MPG on the highway and one hell of a tire shreader, Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?Needless to say I'm greatful for that summer when I decided to forgo my preconceived notions and take some advice from a freind, because this car isn't just functional, it's got some slam dancing in the pedals(power shifting!). Hot rodding. It's all about the fun and the endless possibilities of a gearhead. Now go have fun!